The new rule of UKGC (United Kingdom Gambling Commission) force all casinos, sportsbooks, and bingos websites to check the age and identity of all punters before the first deposit and even play free games. The verification process must occur as soon the new client sign up in a iGaming site and before the client being able to deposit and bet. The new UK Gambling Commission is another form to fight underage gambling on the internet, but most UK casinos are seeing it as another action to slow down their businesses.
Gambling sites in the United Kingdom are working hard to comply with all rules, but they said that an underage check is already made to prevent the child to deposit and play casinos online. With this new rule, UKGC force all licensed igaming operators to block not only the first deposit but also the
free online slots that most of casinos already offer as a test. Now, the new punter must follow all the bureaucracy of the "Know your customer" (KYC) process which will take time, and only then test some free slots to check if the UK casino is the best in their case. Then, most of the punters may realize that the casino is not what they are looking for and will move to another one, following the age and identity verification all over again. It would be easier if UK Gambling Commission create an approved UK gamblers database where this verification will happen just once, and the punter can move from casino to casino without any hassles. But it seems what UK Gambling Commission really want is to ruin the iGaming business. There are two sides to the coin: the UK player's protection is really important, but when it taken to far, it could open the door for offshore gaming sites (and there are a lot of them that accept players from the UK).
After this rule came into force, UK casinos were accepting signups and asked for the documentation prior to the first withdrawal. Now, a long time will take for the punter to get the verification completed and only then will be able to deposit and place bets. Another big problem with this action will be seen in sports events. For example, during an English Premier League match, a punter will not be able to bet immediately after signing up for a UK sportsbook. Punters are tempted to wager on big football events and most of them will give up as the verification will take so long and the match will be finished days after the confirmation.
New UK players must send all documents to prove their identity including name, address, and date of birth, and wait for the account get approved to unlock the banking methods allowing deposits and withdrawals. Existing players will be submitted into a verification as well, but UKGC guarantees that their funds will not be confiscated if the documentation was not sent right away after the new rules.
New players, though, must have a ready copy of a document to send to the operator to speed up the process. You can send a valid passport photo page, UK driving license, utility bill, tenancy agreement, mortgage or home loan statement, bank account statement, or a Council Tax bill. You must check your online casino or sportsbook site to have complete details of the verification process. The best thing is to have everything ready in a folder on your mobile or computer.
Some casinos are running a complex system integrated with databases to check your identity online just after your registration, but you will still have to send the documents before requesting a withdrawal (which is a common practice on all UK gaming sites).
"The new identity verification rules will create greater assurance for the customers who frequent our operators and go further in protecting against underage access to sites. We would also call upon the government and Gambling Commission to accelerate work in areas like digital identity so the weaknesses in the current system do not push customers to unregulated offerings.", said Wes Himes - Chief Executive of the Remote Gambling Association.
Another frequent question sent by punters is how these
new UK casinos are following all rules? They are doing it because they are running under a shared license. Most of the new casinos are Whitelabel solutions sold by an established company that is licensed in the United Kingdom. They sell sub-accounts for investors who want to have their own online casino and these casinos came with the license automatically as the back office is the same of other hundreds of sites.
Casinobillionaire.com will be following everything about the UKGC and will publish all news and requirements to keep our readers updated. Stay tuned!
